Baker Tree Stands

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KENBOB10

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Benton tn. Polk Co.
The how high thread got me to thinking of how well the people that climb have it these days. The younger generation on here need to hear some Baker stand stories if y'all don't mind sharing them.
 
I remember having to "hug" the tree while climbing and descending with these things. Numerous times I would get up to almost where I wanted to be and the dang thing would slip and I would slide all the way back down. No skin on your arms would indicate you went hunting that day.
 
Some genius came up with a climbing aid for them one time. It was a triangle shaped piece of aluminum with a dog chain on it. You would whip it around the tree and hook the chain on a little tit on the side of it. It had a little swivel seat on it too. The problem with it was you had to trust it with your life. I used it a few times and always ended up kissing the ground when I got down.
 
Also, remember the "slim jim" version? KB, I had one of the hand climbers, with a rod handle to holt ontwo. Yep, me and mines had money even way back then. ;)
 
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I went on a hunt years ago to AEDC and did my scouting. The next morning I went to the spot I had picked out, it was were to small creeks came together and a tall oak right on that point. I went up about 12-14 feet with an old Baker and when it got daylight it looked like I was 40 feet high because of the steep banks around the two creeks. I was scared to move all morning, about two hours into the hunt I heard someone hollowing for help and came down and went to him and he had fell with an old Baker. I helped him to his truck, sure he had some broke ribs if not more. Got rid of the Baker after that.
 
MUP said:
Also, remember the "slim jim" version? KB, I had one of the hand climbers, with a rod handle to holt ontwo. Yep, me and mines had money even way back then. ;)
Click to expand...

:D I can't believe we just didn't walk off and leave them things in the woods while we was able.
 
They were light to carry. They were the first marketed climbing system out there and having no inkling of what was to come later down the line, they were the cat's meow. I don't know how long they were around before I started deer hunting but I think we started about the same time. I killed a bunch of deer from them. They would slip on a tree really fast because they didn't have near the "biting" system we have now. They also didn't have a rope connecting the bottom section to the hand climber and I don't know if any of us even thought about it...or a safety climbing device other than the nylon strap that came with the stand. Basically they were a piece of plywood in a channel of metal; both the top and bottom. The hand climber was a metal rod that screwed into the side frames with a pipe over it to hold onto while climbing. The seat was a piece of material attached to this pipe and to the back of the stand. Finally they came out with a seat attachment that was basically 2 flat pieces of aluminum that attached to the side frames of the hand climber and swung down with a small plywood seat. This was the first sit down/stand up climbing system. Death traps were a very appropriate name for them. I still have 2 of them. Since they're so light they're great for wading in flooded timber and using for a dog seat just above the water level.

I'm thinking that the Summit, API, or Loggy Bayou stands came out next. Each had a different way of attaching to the tree; the V-Bar, the cable, and a metal band respectively. I still have 1 of the first of each of those stands. They were a huge step up from the Bakers.
 
I was too young to have one, but I remember hunting with my dad on public land in Hickman county and we came across one at the base of a tree that looked like it had been there for years. I wanted to grab it and my dad told me no, that it must have been left there for a reason... Either someone died or nearly died and never wanted to see it again :laugh:
 
My Dad had men climbing with home made bakers when I was 9-10 years old. I survived.. Shot by first deer with a bow from one when I was 11.
 
I bought a Summit Climber around the middle 1980's. It weighed 22 or 24 lbs. Not easy to lug around. The bottom part dropped a couple of times while climbing. After that I tied the two halves together with a rope. I can't imagine sitting on that little piece of metal with no back now. But then I can't imagine sitting up in a tree on anything anymore except my homemade ladderstand or shooting house.

Still have that old Summit though. I killed my 1st buck out of it so there are good memories when I see it leaning in the corner of the shop.

The best I can recall, I did not buy a Baker because the Summit had tree spikes to make it grab the tree where the Baker did not. I didn't care what the law or local WMA rules might be about spikes, the people that made those rules weren't going to fix me if I did a Humpty Dumpty out of a tree!
 
KENBOB10 said:
MUP said:
Also, remember the "slim jim" version? KB, I had one of the hand climbers, with a rod handle to holt ontwo. Yep, me and mines had money even way back then. ;)
Click to expand...

:D I can't believe we just didn't walk off and leave them things in the woods while we was able.
Click to expand...
lol i did!!! got about 15 feet in chuck swan and she slipped loose and caught traction about eight foot above ground slinging me out backwards and for a long roll down the hill. i got up and walked up there and got my bow and left the stand lol i hope no one found it and took it home. :D
 
Yep, I spent plenty of time hugging a tree in a baker stand. Pretty sure I just bout' lost my virginity to a pine tree down in Mississippi because a baker stand slipped on me.
 
just seeing the words made me break out in a cold sweat. i took the express ride down with one . tried to hug the tree and ate the skin off the inside of both forearms. also because my feet were strapped in, when i hit the ground, i did a face plant into the tree and smashed my nose.
 
I bought mine in the mid 70s and went on a week long bow hunt up at chuck swap. I had found out that one of those little fold out dove sets would fit perfect on the platform. I also figured out that once I sat down I could wiggle side to side and "seat" the stand into the tree and it would not move as much when I stood up. Well toward the end of the hunt I went up a tree that had really tight bark not thinking much about it. . I got as high as I dared to go and pulled my little stool from around my neck and place it on the platform and sat down. Well I started to do my little side to side wiggle and that's when all heck broke loose. Here we went down the tree like a fireman down a pole. The sudden impact that occurred at the base of the tree was more than the little stool could stand and it exploded into about 50 pieces and hit the ground HARD. I layed there for what had to be 5 min trying to figure out what had just happened luckily I was not hurt. I Can't really remember using the stand very much after that and to this day don't know what every came of that DEATH TRAP.
 
there is/was one i left hanging on a tree near rockwood airport. i also have another that was a gift from my tndeer family :D
 
I had a baker mighty mite with a hand climber. I built a seat for it out of galvanized pipe. I sat for hours on that little seat that was about 6" in diameter. Had to carry it in over my shoulder with the seat in one hand and my weapon in the other. Believe it or not, someone actually stole that thing from me! Hope they enjoyed it. I can't count how many times it slipped when I shifted my weight.
 
I bought one from a friend - I think it was the Mighty Mite. I climbed it one time. I NEVER used it again! Death Trap!
 
Death Traps for sure

I listed a tract of land the other day that had one at the base of the tree that had starting growing into it

I'll see if I can find the pic
 
Me and my hunting buddy at the time both purchased one probably in the early 70s.
Since i didnt have any trees to climb for practice i figured a telephone pole in the back yard would suffice. How'd that work? Not too good! I picked cresote splinters out of both arms for weeks.
My buddy didn't fare much better. We were on a hunt at AEDC, we walked in together before daylight, he picked the first spot and told me to swing by around lunch time and we would walk out together.
Around 11:00 I got cold so decided to head in. I walked in the direction of his stand and when i got there noticed his stand at the base of the tree. I figured he must of got cold as well and went to the truck. As i started to walk off i heard him whisper, " hey could ya push my stand up as far as you can" i looked up and he was perched on that little bitty seat. I asked how long he'd been like that and he matter of factly said "right before daylight."
 
bigtex said:
Me and my hunting buddy at the time both purchased one probably in the early 70s.
Since i didnt have any trees to climb for practice i figured a telephone pole in the back yard would suffice. How'd that work? Not too good! I picked cresote splinters out of both arms for weeks.
My buddy didn't fare much better. We were on a hunt at AEDC, we walked in together before daylight, he picked the first spot and told me to swing by around lunch time and we would walk out together.
Around 11:00 I got cold so decided to head in. I walked in the direction of his stand and when i got there noticed his stand at the base of the tree. I figured he must of got cold as well and went to the truck. As i started to walk off i heard him whisper, " hey could ya push my stand up as far as you can" i looked up and he was perched on that little bitty seat. I asked how long he'd been like that and he matter of factly said "right before daylight."
Click to expand...

OMG!!!!!
 
bigtex said:
Me and my hunting buddy at the time both purchased one probably in the early 70s.
Since i didnt have any trees to climb for practice i figured a telephone pole in the back yard would suffice. How'd that work? Not too good! I picked cresote splinters out of both arms for weeks.
My buddy didn't fare much better. We were on a hunt at AEDC, we walked in together before daylight, he picked the first spot and told me to swing by around lunch time and we would walk out together.
Around 11:00 I got cold so decided to head in. I walked in the direction of his stand and when i got there noticed his stand at the base of the tree. I figured he must of got cold as well and went to the truck. As i started to walk off i heard him whisper, " hey could ya push my stand up as far as you can" i looked up and he was perched on that little bitty seat. I asked how long he'd been like that and he matter of factly said "right before daylight."
Click to expand...


Good Lord...

My first two stands were the TSS and a Warren and Sweatt. (Later I changed the name to Warren and Slip). That Warren and Slip was a Bona Fide death trap. It was a Baker clone. If you stepped out near the corners, that thing would spin around the tree faster than a fart disappearing in a high wind. I killed my last deer from it around the late Eighties I think.

My butt was so tight when I shot my last deer from it I'm sure there was bark and splinters stuck to my backside. It sold at a yard sale and truth be known, I'd have given it away for free.
 

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